Foldable expendable pallet



1953 T. P. CALLAHAN ETAL 3,112,715

FOLDABLE EXPENDABLE PALLET Filed June 9. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l FRANK J.KUSIAK JR.

THOMAS P. CALLAHAN INVENTORS.

AGENT.

1963 T. P. CALLAHAN ETAL 3,112,715

I FOLDABLE EXPENDABLE PALLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1961 m A mFRANK J. KUSIAK JR.

THOMAS P. CALLAHAN INVENTORS.

BY 621%.. We

AGENT.

1963 T. P. CALLAHAN ETAL 3,112,715

FOLDABLE EXPENDABLE PALLET 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 9. 1961 FRANK J.KUSIAK JR.

THOMAS P. CALLAHAN INVENTORS.

aymw

AGENT.

United States Patent 3,1l2fi'l5 FQLIBA 1E Thomas P. Callahan,Springfield, and m Agar/am, Mass, assignors to Mor pany, St. Louis, Me nn 1 Claim.

ct. ties-s2 This invention relates to a foldable expendable pallet. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a foldable expendable pmletwhich consists of a single sheet of high strength paper adhesivelyattached and suspended between two substantially parallelsemi-cylindrical channels.

This application is a continuation in part of copending application SN.516,614, filed lune 20, 1955, now abandoned.

Pallets are widely used in the material handling art and are often madeof double-face wooden construction. It is recognized that there arethree disadvantages inherent in pallets of this construction. A primarydisadvantage of wooden pallets is that they are relatively heavy and addmaterially to the gross load of the shipment, thereby increasingshipping costs. A second shortcoming of wooden pallets is that they aresufficiently costly that they must be reused. The necessity of reusingthe pallets entails appreciable freight charges in returning the emptypallets to the original shipper and, in addition, requires the consigneeto keep extensive records of the pallets received from and returned tonumerous suppliers. The third major disadvantage of wooden pallets isthat they are relatively bulky and take up considerable storage space.

Numerous methods of making inexpensive expendable pallets have beenproposed. For example, US. atent 2,506,346 illustrates a non-foldablepallet that is prepared from sheets of heavy corrugated boxboard stockand has closed semi-cylindrical channels attached to the top surfacethereof. While certain of the expendable pallets heretofore proposedhave some merit, all of them are still relatively costly to make.Moreover, the proposed pallets are relatively bulky and thus take upconsiderable space in storage.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a foldableexpendable pallet that can be produced at low cost and requires aminimum of space for storage.

This and other objects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description and the attacheddrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a pallet of thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 illustrates a plurality of pallets nested together in onemanner in which they may be stored;

FIGURE 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of a folded pallet ofthis invention.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a plurality of pallets in folded nestedrelationship for a minimum or" storage space.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views of partially loaded pallets.

In accordance with the present invention, an extremely light weight andlow cost pallet is provided as illustrated in the attached drawings. Thepreferred construction is shown in FIGURE 1, wherein a sheet of highstrength paper 1 is adhesively attached to the perimeters of twosubstantially parallel spaced semi-cylindrical channels 33 and suspendedtherebetween. The sernicylindrical channels 33 are longitudinalhalf-sections cut from spirally wound cemented fiberboard tubes. The twoend sections 55 of the high strength paper extend beyond the outer edgesof the semi-cylindrical channels.

In addition to their light Weight and low cost of manufacture, a majoradvantage of the pallets of the present invention is that they require aminimum of space for l. atented use. 3, ltl3 storage. The bottoms of thesemi-cylindrical channels are open and the pallets can be easily nestedfor storage as illustrated in FTGURE 2 or folded as shown in F1- URE 3for stacking as delineated in FIGURE 4. Such nested storage requires aminimum of floor space. It is equally apparent that since the palletscontain no hollow spaces in their construction other than the channels33 requ red for the insertion of lifting forks, their use permitsmaximum utilisation of shipping space in the carrier.

W hen bagged materials are to be carried by the pallets, they are loadedso that the weight is carried almost entirely by the semi-cylindricalchannels 33. FIGURE 5 illustrates a three-bag tie in which bag 6 is laidlengthwise on one semi-cylindrical channel 3 and bags 8 and it"; arelaid at right angles thereto and across the other semi-cylindricalchannel 3. The second and subsequent courses of bags are each rotatedthrough 180 with respect to the course immediately below it. When thepallet is loaded in this manner, it is seen that essentially all of theweight is carried on the semi-cylindrical channels 3-3.

FIGURE 6 represents another embodiment of a loaded pellet in which theentire weight is carried by the semicylindrical channels 3-3. Bags 7 andll are loaded lengthwise on the semi-cylindrical channels 3-3, with bag'7 being positioned at the forward end of the pallet and bag 11 beingpositioned toward the rear end of th palet. Bags 9 and 13 are laid atright angles to bags 7 and 11 and across the semi-cylindrical channels3-3. The second and subsequent courses of bags are rotated through withrespect to the course immediately below it.

If the pallets of this invention are loaded with bagged fluid-likepowdered materials and stored one on the other, the powdered materialcontained in the top bags of the lower tiers may flow into the cavitiesof the semicylindrical channels of the pallet immediately above it. Suchflowing may tend to reduce the opening intended for the insertion of theforks of the lift truck and may out immediately prior to use of thepallet, since in ordinary commercial practice a supply of adhesive isavailable at the pallet loading station. However, sealing the cavitiesof the open semi-cylindrical channels would detract from the uniquestoring advantage of the present invention.

The materials employed in the manufacture of the pallets of thisinvention are critical. Since the weight of the fully loaded pallets iscarried predominantly by the semi-cylindrical channels, thesemi-cylindrical channels must be of sufficient strength to carry theload without collapsing. Preferably, the longitudinal half-sections areconstructed of spirally wound cemented fiberboard tubes. In part, theuse of longitudinal half-sections of spirally wound cemented fiberboardtubes is dictated by the consideration that the semi-cylindricalchannels must have a wall thickness of only 0.1 to 0.5 inch so that thepallets can be easily nested in a minimum of storage space asillustrated in FIGURE 2 or FIGURE 4. No other known material which isavailable at a suificiently low cost to be used in an expendable pallethas the high strength/weight ratio required in the construction ofpallets of this invention.

The web or supporting floor of the pallet must be a sheet of 70l50-poundlcraft paper. It is necessary to use at least 7tl-pound kraft paper toobtain the necessary strength in the pallet. To function properly, thesupporting floor of the pallet must be flexible and cleforni slightlyWhen loaded so that the pallet Wil secure! grip the supporting base onwhich it rests. This frictional grip is necessary so that the forks ofthe lift can be ren1 ve. easily from the semi-cylindrical channels. Theflexibility of the supporting floor of the pallet also perrnits theindividual pallets to be folded, as shown in 3, so that the twotine-receiving channels thereof are nested together. Fifty of suchfolded pallets can be stored in a space 2 ft. X 3 ft. X 4 ft. asillustrated in FEGURE 4. Thus, fifty stored pallets will occupy only 24cu. ft. of storage space. Furthermore, the flexibility of the supportingfloor of the pallet will also permit the lower bags of a fully loadedpallet to tie in or grip the upper layer of bags of the palletimmediately below it so as to form a tightly knit shipping unit that ismore resistant to shifting when subjected to sudden starts stops.

in a particular embodiment of the invention, the liraft paper employedas the pallet floor has high wet strength. By high Wet strength it ismeant that the paper, when Wet, will retain at least 25% of its drystrength. High Wet strength papers of this type are well-known in theart and are customarily prepared by impregnating the paper with a thenosetting resin such as a melamineforrnaldehycle resin. Sir larly, thespirally Wound cemerited fiberboard tubes from Which thesemi-cylindrical channels are cut are fabricated from high Wet strengthpaper and a water-resistant adhesive is used in cernen the tubes.

An outstanding feature of the pallets of the present invention is thatthey are particularly adapted to be used with standard fork ift truckswithout the necessity of employing special forks. Accordingly, thesemi-cylindrical channels of the pallets of this invention Willpreferably have internal diameters of 48 inches and the distance betweenthe center lines of the semi-cylindrical channels is preferably set atfrom 20 to 30 inches.

The pallets of this invention have undergone extensive field tests andWill easily carry gross loads of up to 203 pounds.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the invention and itis obvious that many variations can be creon without departing from thespirit and scope invention.

What is clamed is:

A foldable pallet, adapted to occupy a minimum of space when stored,consisting of, in combination, a pair of substantially parallel openchannels defined by rigid longituninal semi-cylindrical sectionsconstructed of halfsections of spirally wound cemented fiberboard tubeshaving a wall thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 inch and a horizontally orientatedflexible supporting Web adhesively attached at the bottom surfacethereof to the convex outer surfaces of said semi-cylindrical sections,whereby the center lines of said semi-cylindrical sections arepositioned below said supporting Web to receive the two tines of aforl-c lift truck Within the open concave undersurface thereof andwhereby said hraft paper may be folded over such that the twotine-receiving channels thereof may be nested first together and thenwith pluralities of similarly folded pallets to occupy a minimum ofstorage space.

References fiitetl in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,344,804 Crosby May 21, 1944 2,696,235 Toifolon Dec. 7, 1954 2,693,696Strong Jan. 4, 1955

